International Trade and Finance Speech Essay Example for Free

International Trade and Finance Speech Essay One may try to understand what exactly a foreign exchange rate is. To help understand, let’s view a foreign exchange rate as exchanging one dollar at a department store for a product. If one were to go into a department store and purchase a pair of socks in a three pack for one dollar, or each for 33 cents, one would be able to relate that the dollar-to-socks exchange rate is three socks because one exchanged a single dollar for three pairs of socks. Similarly, the sock-to-dollar exchange rate would be one-third of a dollar, meaning 33 cents. This is because if one decides to sell a single pair of socks, one would get 33 cents in exchange. Moffatt) The same principle hold true for foreign currency. On May 9, 2013 the U. S. -to-Euro exchange rate was . 767 EUR, meaning that for one U. S. dollar, one could purchase . 767 Euros. In order to determine the amount that one could exchange one Euro to the dollar, one could use this simple formula: Euro-to-U. S. exchange rate = 1 / U. S. -to-Euro exchange rate. Euro-to-U. S. exchange rate = 1 / 3767 = 1. 303. This equation shows that one Euro would be exchange for 1. 303 U. S. dollars. (Moffatt) Now that what have an understanding of what a foreign exchange rate is, let discuss how these rates are determined. Using the two previously discussed currencies, each of their rate are determined in a foreign exchange market that is open to a very large range of various sellers and buyers. Each country incorporates mechanisms that will in turn aid in managing the value of their currency. These mechanisms help in determining the, either pegged and fixed, or free-floating. A peg system is when a country tries to keep their currency at a fixed exchange rate, as the Chinese have done between 1994 and 2005. Doing this sometime devalue or over-value their currencies, which can result in either a trade deficit or surplus. Free-floating is when the currency’s exchange rate is allowed to vary against currencies of other countries, allowing supply and demand in the market forces to determine its exchange rate; exchange rates for these currencies are determined around the works by banks and are quoted through the financial markets. (Mayer) International Trade The effects of international trade means lower prices for goods and services; competition for the domestic markets and less of a choice for employment for University of phoenix students after graduation. When the country invests more in international trade that local business and companies; the Gross domestic product may start to suffer and business may start to go out of business due to loss in business. International trade takes away from local farmers and business owner’s success. If the country is constantly making international trades, eventually the United States would no longer have a need for local farmers. The local farmers would have surplus that may spoil due to not being sold. This could cause the farmer to become bankrupt. International trades mean less cost for products and services for the consumer, (Investopedia, n. ). So in return that means less business for the local farmers and business owners as mentioned before. The effect of international trade effects University of Phoenix student mainly after graduation. If all of the jobs are being outsources or traded overseas; what opportunities does that leave the new potential employees? The students would not have a job of choice, depending on the degree they have pursued. It would be unfortunate for a student to complete a program and not be able to use their degree effectively due to their job of choice being outsourced overseas. International trade is not all that bad as it is made out to be. Without international trade, we would not be able to experience different types of foods from other countries that cannot be produced in our country, (Investopedia, n. d). Tariffs and Quotas International relations and trade can be affected by the choices governments choose to fallow. First, what are tariffs and quotes? Tariffs or sometimes known as custom duties also, they are a certain amount of tax value placed by governments on international trade goods and are typically on imported goods. Quotas are limits placed on the importers, which gives them a certain amount of time they may import their goods. Quotas generally favor the importer, because they tend to drive the cost of goods up, which in turn gains revenue for the importing companies. Tariffs do the opposite, they generally will bring revenue to the government, because they are a tax and the government will gain in revenue. Although tariffs and quotas bring revenue to the companies and the government, they can also have a negative affect if the tax is too high or if the quotas are so small. Price of the goods will sky rocket and problems in the international trading world will arise. One example, which according to Colander (2010) stated,â€Å" Probably the most infamous tariff in U. S. istory is the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930, which raised tariffs on imported goods to an average of 60 percent. It was passed at the height of the Great Depression in the United States in the hope of protecting American jobs. It didn’t work. Other countries responded with similar tariffs. As a result of these trade wars, international trade plummeted from $60 billion in 1928 to $25 billion in 1938, unemployment worsened, and the international depression deepened. † (Colander, 2010, p. 458). Import of Goods If the U. S. restricted all goods coming in from China then the U. S. would lose a significant amount of comparative advantage with China. What this means is that goods manufactured in China, India and other Asian countries are creating demand for advertising, management, and distribution, and are therefore creating jobs and income in the United States† (Colander, 2010, p. 453). Currently the U. S. is now a debtor nation and China plus India are creating jobs and helping the U. S. economy. The U. S. could not afford to restrict China because this could cause problems internationally with the two countries and the U. S. economy would suffer from bad relations. Why cannot the U. S. just minimize the amount of imports coming in from all other countries? The U. S. annot minimize the amount of imports coming in from other countries because this would hurt the U. S. economy as a whole. Minimizing the amount of imports could also hurt the reputation of the U. S. on the international trade level and the U. S. could end up losing trading partners with other countries. The U. S. is consuming more imports then selling of exports so minimizing the amount of imports would also be very difficult. Again this could make the U. S. economy crash from the loss of imports. â€Å"International trade, and changing comparative advantages, will become more and more important for the United States in the coming decades† Colander, 2010, p. 470). Surplus A surplus of imports that is brought into the United States is when imports exceed exports, meaning that the demand for U. S. goods or services is in the negative. A negative export affects the economy’s income and output, the employment rate, prices of goods and services, and the rate of inflation. An example of a product with an import surplus, and the impact that it had on the U. S. businesses and consumers is the motor-vehicle manufacturing sector. â€Å"The motor-vehicle manufacturing sector is the second-largest employer among all U. S. anufacturing industries, and auto parts and tires contribute the most direct jobs (nearly two-thirds or more) to the motor-vehicle sector. † (Scott, 2012) Since the United States Government helped with the restructuring of General Motors, there has been a strong turnaround in U. S. auto sales, but this still does not stop the massive import and surplus of automotive parts available on the U. S. market. Chinese exports to the United States have increase by 900 percent in the last decade, thus affecting the employment rate of those that would be working in the United States auto-parts industry.

John Snow The Father Of Epidemiology History Essay

John Snow The Father Of Epidemiology History Essay John Snow (1813-1858), the father of epidemiology, has a legacy that still exists today. His use of epidemiological methods helped identify the risks of certain diseases and has also helped establish what preventative actions should be taken in response to an outbreak. He was a great man that is known for his work involving anesthesia and cholera. In Snows short lifetime, Oleckno claims (2008), He is credited with writing over 100 books, pamphlets, essays, articles, and letters to the editor on a variety of medical topics(p.1691) including his very famous book, On the Mode of Communication of Cholera, which describes the cholera outbreak that took place in Soho in 1854 (Oleckno, 2008, p. 1691). Snows studies have shaped the worlds views on epidemiology as a science, and they have changed the way we confront public health problems that still exist today. Snows experiments provided a perfect example of this science since epidemiology is concerned with who gets sick, and why they get si ck. Research by Blank and Jameson (2007) proves that, Snows work still serves as an example of how prevention can be effective without an explicit understanding of the exact mechanism of underlying pathogenesis (p. 3). Although his ideas were highly debatable at the time when it came to the spread of cholera, Snow still pressed on and eventually got his point across. Through his hard work and persistent determination, John Snow is seen as a pioneer who brought the use of anesthesia out of the dark ages, and a savior who contributed to rescuing London from the terrors that cholera produced (Oleckno, 2008, p 1692). Snow was born on March 15, 1813 to a working class family in York, England. As a young boy, Snow proved that he was very bright. He particularly excelled in mathematics. His mother recognized his intelligence and eagerness to learn, so she placed him in a private school where he could shine. Snow had a desire to become a doctor, and when he was fourteen he attained an appre ntice job alongside Dr. William Hardcastle, a pharmacist, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (Old News, 2005, p. 8). Hardcastle exposed Snow to cholera patients during an outbreak in Killingworth in 1832, effectively giving him a medical understanding. In 1836, Snow entered the Hunterian School of Medicine in London. While in school, he also gained more clinical experience at the Westminster Hospital. In 1843 he received his bachelor of medicine, and in 1844 he graduated as a MD from The University of London (Simmons, 2002, p. 163). At this time, and for his lifetime, John Snow was described as a modest bachelor who was very healthy. He followed a strict vegetarian diet since the age of seventeen (Mawson, 2009, p. 498), and he abstained from drinking alcohol. On occasion, he would even publicly support temperance. John Snow lived in Soho, London on Frith Street. After moving to Soho, Snow distinguished himself by making the first scientific studies on the effects of anesthetics. He focused most of his scientific experiments on the usage of ether and chloroform. According to Hempel (2007) Snow, Was looking for the perfect narcotic vapor; effective, easy to administer, and completely safe (p. 97). Ether and chloroform are colorless, unstable, liquids that come from ethyl alcohol. They were formerly used as inhalant anesthetics. Chloroform however, was known to cause heart problems. John Snow is very interesting to me in the fact that he experimented with anesthetics on himself. He did this for nine years, and ahis goal was to identify a drug that had the properties and advantages of chloroform, but was similar to ether in not causing cardiac arrest (Mawson, 2009, p.498). Snow studied the advantages and disadvantages of each of the narcotics, and eventually he developed an anesthetic inhaler with a mouthpiece. After putting the inhaler on his f ace, Snow would record the dosage he was about to give himself, and then release the gas he was testing. He would fall unconscious very quickly, and would remain knocked out for different periods of time depending on the drug and the amount he was using. When he would awake, Snow would record the amount of time he was unconscious for. These tests helped determine how much a patient could handle, especially when being operated on. Because Snow made the usage of these drugs more safe and effective, surgeons no longer risked killing their patients by using the wrong amount of a certain anesthetic. Also, in 1847, Snow published a textbook entitled, On the Inhalation of the Vapour Ether in Surgical Operations. This book classified Snow as an anesthesia expert in England. Snows newly gained fame as becoming a pioneer in anesthetics led to his invitation to assist in delivering Queen Victorias children, Prince Leopold and Princess Beatrice (Oleckno, 2008, p. 1691). The mask he had invented was used to administer chloroform to Queen Victoria. It aided her while she was giving birth to her last two children. After his work in anesthetics, Snow moved on to investigating cholera. According to Codeco Coelho (2006), His work on cholera was fundamental in many ways: he proposed methods and ideas that are still part of the basic toolkit of modern epidemiology, such as time-spacial analysis and notions of source exposure and incubation periods (p.16). Even before John Snow decided to take on cholera, it overwhelmed civilization for many years prior. Cholera was present in India in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Cholera occurred in three main waves, each one its own pandemic. The first pandemic took place from 1817 to 1823. The second pandemic carried cholera to Europe, and then across the Atlantic Ocean to North America in 1826 and 1837. When the third pandemic began in 1846, John Snow decided to step in. Microbiology has proved that cholera is caused by the bacteria, Vibrio cholerae. This can enter the body from contaminated food, but mainly from contaminated water. The bacterium e ffects a persons digestive system; mainly the small intestine. It causes severe diarrhea and vomiting, which leads to dehydration. According to Ball (2009), As the concentration of the water in the bloodstream decreases, the blood becomes thick and tarlike. The heart rate becomes irregular and dehydrated limbs begin to shrivel (p. 106). If a cholera patient is not rehydrated with a saline solution, death can occur very quickly. At the time, physicians knew little about the origins of cholera. The common belief was that cholera was caused by miasmas; bad odors that came into the atmosphere from foul smelling areas. Cholera was also thought to be a disease of the blood, not of the digestive system. John Snow, a member of the Cholera Inquiry Committee (Paneth, Vinten-Johansen, Brody, Rip, 1999, p.1545), had his own revolutionary ideas. He had done a lot of work with identifying the causes of contagious diseases in the past, and when it came to cholera, he felt that people were getting sick because there were tiny parasites in the water. According to Oleckno (2008), Cholera was transmitted primarily through contaminated drinking water via the fecal- oral route and not through miasmas (p. 1691). It had not been proved yet that miniature organisms could make people sick, and Snow was not widely supported. Vachon (2005) reinforces this idea, claiming, This was not an original idea, but it was an unpopular one dur ing the first half of the nineteenth century (p. 1-2). When cholera struck London in 1848, Snow decided to track the progress of the disease. He wanted to prove that his ideas about the cause of cholera were correct. In August of 1849 Snow published a pamphlet entitled, On the Mode of Communication of Cholera. This pamphlet proved his theory on the cause of cholera through the many examples given. Publishing a highly debatable essay like this was done at his own risk, but Snow felt that he had demonstrated a relatively reasonable argument in his pamphlet. He felt that the conditions in which cholera developed were spread throughout many neighborhoods. If theses cholera epidemics were ever going to end, something would have to be done. Snows ideas expressed in, On the Mode of Communication of Cholera had little effect on what his colleagues had thought. Despite this setback, Snow pushed on, and stuck to his original ideas. He carried out more experiments from this time on proving that his ideas were correct. Snow is best known for two experiments that he conducted in London. While the third pandemic of cholera was still raging through London in 1854, Snow began a project that he called his Grand Experiment. Snow compared the cholera death rates in each household supplied by two rival water companies; the Southwark and Vauxhall Company and the Lambeth Company. According to Ball (2009), He demonstrated that six out of every seven cholera deaths occurred in houses that received water from the Southwark and Vauxhall Company, instead of the Lambeth Company (p. 107). The question was, why were people who received their water from the Southwark and Vauxhall Company sick with cholera when both companies received their water from the Thames River? When it was discovered that the Southwark and Vauxhall Company drew their water from a more polluted area of the river, Snows proposed connection between cholera and contaminated water began to make sense. People that drank water from this source were m ore likely to contract cholera than people drinking from other sources because of the dirty water that was being used. Oleckno claims that (2008), Through painstaking investigation, Snow provided credible evidence that cholera was transmitted by sewage contaminated water years before the germ theory of disease was firmly established (p. 1691). This experiment, in my opinion, was a big step for not only John Snow, but a major contribution to society. This new discovery would help convince the population that cholera was a waterborne bacterial disease, and would lead to better public sanitation. Snow also conducted a localized study in the Golden Square of the Soho district, where he lived. This experiment is probably the most widely known of the two. The events that took place on Broad Street, now Broadwick Street, started with a five month old baby named Francis Lewis (Ball, 2009, p.107). The child had developed cholera, and to this day no one knows how she contracted it. After Francis died, her mother washed her soiled sheets and clothes and emptied the dirty water into a cesspool in the front of their house. It didnt take long at all for the residence on Broad Street to contract the disease, and the number of deaths from cholera had risen to over five hundred after only ten days. Snow now had to determine where the outbreak started. According to The Lancet (2005), Snow also faced considerable difficulties: he personally visited the homes of 658 people who had died of cholera; he had to abandon his anesthesia practice for weeks at a time to do his cholera investigations; and The Lancet and Parliament both pilloried him (p. 957). Snow started first by knocking on all the doors in the Golden Square neighborhood. He visited every house, and while he was there he questioned the familys consumption of water. After Snow gathered all of this valuable information, he drew a map with a black spot representing every death where it occurred. This map emphasizes Snows genius because the technique he used, now called disease- mapping, is a vital tool used in epidemiology. He noticed that at the center of his map was the Broad Street Pump. Snow had an idea that the pump was the cause of the outbreak, but because the deaths were inconsistent, he had no evidence to support his prediction. Ball (2009) says, Broad Street water had a reputation for being colder and more carbonated than the water from surrounding pumps, so it had attracted a clientele from adjacent neighborhoods (p. 108). After Snow interviewed the people who had a family member die, he discovered that many people stopped to drink from this pump when they were on their way to school or work. Two observations after his investigation really stood out to Snow. One was that there had been no deaths among the workers at the Lion Brewery on Broad Street. When Snow learned that the workers received liquor as a part of their wages, and barely drank water from the pump, the reason why there had been no casualties made sense. The second baffling observation was the death of a woman named Susanna Eley. Eley was a widow who moved from Broad Street to Hampstead (Ball, 2009, p. 108). After Eley died, Snow interviewed her surviving sons and discovered that she loved the taste of Broad Street water so much, that she had it delivered to her new house in Hampstead from the pump on Broad Street. This information was exactly what Snow needed. He now had evidence that the pump was in fact the source of the outbreak because an outside person had deceased after drinking the pumps water. Now that he had an adequate amount of data and some solid evidence, Snow requested to talk to the Board of Guardians by St. James Parish to come up with a plan to deal with the cholera outbreak. After some persuasion, Snow convinced the local parish officials to remove the handle of the Broad Street pump, and on September 8, 1854 it was done. According to the MMWR (2004), Snows studies and the removal of the pump handle became a model for modern epidemiology. (p. 783). This gesture had little to do with ending the epidemic because the outbreak was nearly over. However, when he convinced the parish officials to remove the handle of the pump, this became a historic example of a public health intervention. After the pump was dug out, it was revealed that the well that served the pump ran near broad street sewage pipes and cesspools. Although it was never determined how the well became contaminated with the bacteria that spread cholera in the first place, it is assumed that the dirty wat er Sarah Lewis dumped outside her house upon the death of her infant caused the entire incident (Ball, 2009, p. 108). On June 16, 1858, John Snow, a legend, died at the age of forty five. On June 10, 1858, while finishing his book, On Chloroform and Other Anesthetics, Snow fell off his chair. He became paralyzed on his left side, and started vomiting blood (Hempel, 2007, p. 246). The cause of death appeared to be a stroke caused by chronic renal failure. He was buried at Brompton Cemetery in London, England. Today, there is still a replica of the Broad Street pump in Soho, London (Ball, 2009, p.105). This tribute reminds us of Snows legacy, and his perseverance in tackling cholera in the 1800s. Snow is still recognized today as a contributor to public health history because he proposed the waterborne theory of cholera and proved that it was right. He was known first for his continued efforts and work in anesthesiology, but his extensive experiments dealing with cholera led to a greater impact. Snows constant persistence and desire to never give up, led people to finally believe what he was saying wa s true. His experiments also helped us deal with later outbreaks. The mapping and the field studies he did, now have their own modern names, proving their lasting impact. Medical cartography and shoe leather epidemiology are what these techniques are known as today. Although Snows death was saddening, he did leave behind a great reputation for himself. According to Oleckno (2008), Today there is a professional society, a college, a government building, a public health consulting firm, and a tavern bearing his name (p. 1691). Snows medical significance is still so apparent that in 2003, a medical magazine called Hospital Doctor, voted Snow as the greatest doctor in history. Cholera has been eradicated in most of the developed countries in the world, and according to WHO (2005), In 2004 there were 36 reported cases of cholera in the Americas and 21 cases in Europe (p. 957). Figuring out the mystery of cholera would be just as great as if we found a solution to AIDS today. Snows logic is considered to be very influential in the field of public health, and his methods have affected the way we solve public health issues today.

God Is Not Great Essays -- Literary Analysis, Christopher Hitchens

In his book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, Christopher Hitchens dissects and criticizes the various claims of religions and the tragic events that have been caused by various religions. The title of the book sums up the arguments of Hitchens in this book in the fact that he makes many arguments of why â€Å"religion poisons everything.† The majority of the chapters in this book discuss why he believes religion to be a manmade notion that has led to more trouble than anything else in the world. Most of his focus is on the three Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism but he does fit in criticism of other religions as well. The topics he chooses to discuss range from the sketchy origins of Mormonism to the problems with circumcision. Through his various arguments, Hitchens not only claims that religion is manmade, but also that the idea of any type of divine being is absurd. Hitchens makes the argument that there is no divine being by analyzing the various faults of religion. He begins with his own religious falling out during his grade school years and from their goes on to question religion on a larger scale. He spends a good part of the book his book analyzing the wars and suffering caused by people of faith. He questions the customs and ethics of the God in various religious texts. Hitchens focuses all of the attention of the book on the negative aspects of religion and decides that due to these negative aspects of religion there is no higher power to the universe. His argument goes beyond trying to discredit religion, but he sees a call to put an end to religion. He states, â€Å"Above all, we are in need of a renewed Enlightenment, which will base itself on the proposition that the proper study of ... ...uses does have merit because throughout history religion has had its detrimental effects. What Hitchens has done with these examples is tried to present them in a way to make a person not very well informed in reasoning skills to think that religion has caused only bad. He makes statements that paint those with religious beliefs as fanatics with the main purpose of killing those who don’t believe the way they do. By not fully exploring the way in which religion has had beneficial effect, Hitchens has set up an argument that could easily convince people that religion only has negative effects. The next stop on this exploration of this book is chapters seven through nine which reviewer Geoffrey Sutton says â€Å"seems to be the center point in his book† (372). These three chapters go into in depth analysis of the Old Testament, New Testament, and Koran, respectively. God Is Not Great Essays -- Literary Analysis, Christopher Hitchens In his book God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, Christopher Hitchens dissects and criticizes the various claims of religions and the tragic events that have been caused by various religions. The title of the book sums up the arguments of Hitchens in this book in the fact that he makes many arguments of why â€Å"religion poisons everything.† The majority of the chapters in this book discuss why he believes religion to be a manmade notion that has led to more trouble than anything else in the world. Most of his focus is on the three Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism but he does fit in criticism of other religions as well. The topics he chooses to discuss range from the sketchy origins of Mormonism to the problems with circumcision. Through his various arguments, Hitchens not only claims that religion is manmade, but also that the idea of any type of divine being is absurd. Hitchens makes the argument that there is no divine being by analyzing the various faults of religion. He begins with his own religious falling out during his grade school years and from their goes on to question religion on a larger scale. He spends a good part of the book his book analyzing the wars and suffering caused by people of faith. He questions the customs and ethics of the God in various religious texts. Hitchens focuses all of the attention of the book on the negative aspects of religion and decides that due to these negative aspects of religion there is no higher power to the universe. His argument goes beyond trying to discredit religion, but he sees a call to put an end to religion. He states, â€Å"Above all, we are in need of a renewed Enlightenment, which will base itself on the proposition that the proper study of ... ...uses does have merit because throughout history religion has had its detrimental effects. What Hitchens has done with these examples is tried to present them in a way to make a person not very well informed in reasoning skills to think that religion has caused only bad. He makes statements that paint those with religious beliefs as fanatics with the main purpose of killing those who don’t believe the way they do. By not fully exploring the way in which religion has had beneficial effect, Hitchens has set up an argument that could easily convince people that religion only has negative effects. The next stop on this exploration of this book is chapters seven through nine which reviewer Geoffrey Sutton says â€Å"seems to be the center point in his book† (372). These three chapters go into in depth analysis of the Old Testament, New Testament, and Koran, respectively.

The Assyrians :: essays research papers

The Assyrians There are different periods of the Assyrian empire. The first was called the Old Assyrian period which lasted from 2000-1550 BC. Then there was the Middle Assyrian period which lasted from 1550-1200 BC. The last was the Neo-Assyrian period which lasted from 1200-600 BC. The final phase of the Neo-Assyrian period is called the Assyrian Empire. The Old and Middle Assyrian periods ( 2000 - 1200 BC ) The name Ashur was used by the Assyrians to designate not only their country, but also their most ancient city and their national god. The cities of Ashur (near modern al-Sharqat), Nineveh, and Irbil formed a triangle that defined the original territory of Assyria. Assyria's early history was marked by frequent episodes of foreign rule. Assyria finally gained its independence around 2000 BC. About this time the Assyrians established a number of trading colonies in Cappadocia (central Anatolia), protected by treaties with local Hattic rulers. The most important of these was at Kultepe (Kanesh), north of present-day Kayseri, Turkey. Political developments Brought this enterprise to an end in 1750 BC. Assyria lost its independence to a dynasty of Amorite. Then Hammurabi of Babylon took over and established himself ruler of Assyria. The collapse of Hammurabi's Old Babylonian dynasty gave Assyria only temporary relief. It soon fell under the control of the Mitanni, until that state was destroyed by the Hittites c.1350 BC. The Early Neo-Assyrian Period (c.1200-600 BC) After the collapse of Mittanni, Assyria regained its independence and was able to hold it thanks to the weakness of its neighbors. The most important event in Assyrian history during the 13 century BC, was the capture of Babylon by King Tukulti-Ninurta (r.1244-1208 BC). Although the conquest was short-lived the memory of it remained strong. In the following centuries the chief adversaries of the Assyrians were the Aramaeans, who settled in Syria and along the upper Tigris and the Euphrates rivers, where they founded a number of states. In the 9th century BC, under Ashurnasirpal II (r.883-859 BC) and Shalmaneser III (859- 824 BC), the Assyrians finally managed to conquer Bit-Adini (Beth-Eden), the most powerful Aramaen state on the upper Euphrates. Shalmaneser then tried to invade the Syrian heartland, where he met with serious resistance from a coalition of kings that included Ahab of Israel. They successfully opposed him at the battle karkar in 853 BC. Internal disagreements marked the end of Shalmaneser's reign, and many of his conquests were lost. Assyrian power began with Tiglath-Peleser III (r. 745-727 BC) taking over the throne. He began on administrative reforms aimed at strengthening royal authority over the provinces. Districts were reduced in size and placed under

A Photographers Focus Essays -- Pictures Violence Ireland British Ess

A Photographer's Focus On March 20, 1972 at 11:45 a.m. an anonymous phone call was made to police headquarters in Belfast, Northern Ireland warning of a bomb in crowded Church Street (Fisk 2). At 11:52 a.m. a second emergency call reached police headquarters confirming the threat of a bomb (Fisk 2). The police made efforts to evacuate the street as quickly as possible. Then, at 11:55 a.m. headquarters received a third emergency call warning of a bomb, but this time the caller gave the location of the bomb to be in the adjoining Donegall Street (Fisk 2). Three minutes later a 100-pound gelignite bomb exploded in Donegall Street killing six people and wounding 147 others (Fisk 1). The bombing was a terrorist act by the Irish Republican Army (IRA), whose mission is to drive the British out of Northern Ireland. It was in the ensuing minutes of the explosion that Derek Brind of the Press Association probably arrived at the gruesome scene: nearly a hundred young girls â€Å"lay on the street or in the shattered doorways screaming with pain and shock† (Fisk 1). As he approached the site, he spotted a British paratrooper holding â€Å"a young Irish girl in his arms to comfort her† (Dewar 62) and snapped this photo: What makes this, or any photograph, so unique is that the viewer actually sees what the photographer saw when he or she took the picture; we too, see the paratrooper clutching the wounded girl in his arms. What we don’t see, however, is what takes place around the picture. The photographer chooses where we look and in doing so, decides what deserves attention and what can be left out. This selection process is entirely subjective, and as such, it is a reflection of the photographer's perspective—not just literally, but figurat... ... we too, begin to become aware of the cruel nature of mankind. This is what Derek Brind saw in the violence in Northern Ireland and this is what he tried to convey through this image. Hence, what may appear to be a photo about how loving and caring fellow man can be, is really a criticism of the inhumanity of man. This is the photographer's message as reflected through his choice of focus in the image. Works Cited: Berger, John. Ways of Seeing. Penguin Books,1972. 7-33. Dewar, Michael, Colonel. The British Army in Northern Ireland. London: Arms and Armour Press, 1996. 57-79. Fisk, Robert. â€Å"Six killed, 147 injured by bomb after misleading calls.† The London Times. March 21, 1972: A1-A2. Pratt, Mary Louise. "Arts of the Contact Zone." Ways of Reading. Ed. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. 5th ed. Boston: St. Martin's, 1999. 582-596.

Rhetorical Analysis of Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience” Essay

Directions: Read â€Å"Civil Disobedience.† As you read, underline examples of Thoreau using rhetorical devices and identify and explain the devices via annotation. Answer questions 1-4 to prepare for further work with a small group. The group will work together on questions 5 through 8. Be ready to explain your answers to the whole class. Even when you’re working as a group you should be writing the answers. 1. Based on your reading of â€Å"Civil Disobedience,† what kind of person does Henry David Thoreau seem to be? How would you characterize his state of mind and emotion as he composed this essay? Cite specific examples from the text to support your claims about Thoreau’s voice and persona. Voice = textual features such as diction and syntax, that contribute to a writer’s persona Syntax and tone are formal, academic, eloquent. Sentences tend to be longer, complex sentences punctuated with frequent commas and semicolons (to indicate pauses) which lends the pacing of a speech, almost as if even though we’re reading a written word, it’s Thoreau himself speaking to us, lecturing even. Also, parallelism (more precisely in the following example, anaphora): Yet this government never of itself furthered any enterprise, but by the alacrity with which it got out of its way. It does not keep the country free. It does not settle the West. It does not educate. The character inherent in the American people has done all that has been accomplished. (paragraph 2) (The last â€Å"It does not†¦Ã¢â‚¬  with the â€Å"The†¦American people has done† is antithesis) Diction is academic and intelligent, supporting the same tone mentioned above (â€Å"alac rity† is a lesser-known word for â€Å"speed†). Repeated use of the â€Å"machine† metaphor when referring to the government and politicians/lawyers who work for it. Sets up an â€Å"Us† (free-minded, free-thinking citizens who rebel against slavery) versus â€Å"Them† (the government machine and those who would support it, as well as those who talk but don’t act against it). He uses â€Å"We† a lot, further emphasizing this division against government, but also the unity of people who agree with his points, a â€Å"we’re in this together† kind of thing.  Repeated use of words associated with honorable, positive human qualities as well as those associated with evil and guilt: â€Å"tradition†¦integrity†¦vitality†¦force† versus â€Å"complicated machinery† (paragraph 2); â€Å"a corporation has no conscience†¦agents of injustice†¦damnable business†¦at the service of some unscrupulous man in power† (paragraph 4) Persona – the character that a writer/speaker conveys to the audience Anti-authority (at least rebellious against corrupted power). Anti-government. In favor of the rights of all free-thinking people. A bit of a â€Å"maverick†. Angry and in some cases, bitter at the government for injustice. Critical and mocking of people who claim they disagree with slavery but do nothing about it. 2. What does Thoreau do in â€Å"Civil Disobedience† to urge his readers to believe in him as a trustworthy, credible person? Point out specific passages where you felt Thoreau was (or was not) particularly believable (this gets at the ethos of the piece). Other examples of logos or pathos? A writer builds ethos (an appeal to the author’s credibility) by establishing himself as credible, believable, and trustworthy. 3. One device a writer can use to get a point across is metaphor. Thoreau uses metaphor extensively in â€Å"Civil Disobedience.† Notice, for example, what he compares machinery to or how he uses gaming metaphorically. Select two metaphors and explain, citing specific examples from the text, how they help Thoreau’s central idea become more vivid for his readers. The â€Å"machinery† metaphor is extended—used throughout the work: The â€Å"gaming† metaphor: (paragraph 12) â€Å"All voting is a sort of gaming, like checkers or backgammon, with a slight moral tinge to it, a playing with right and wrong, with moral questions; and betting naturally accompanies it†¦Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority.† 4. How do you think Thoreau wanted his readers to react to the essay? What did he want them to feel? think? believe? do? How do you know? Identify specific places in the essay that help you determine Thoreau’s purpose. (paragraph 15) â€Å"†¦Some are petitioning the State to dissolve the Union, to disregard the requisitions of the President. Why do they not dissolve it themselves—the union between themselves and the State—and refuse to pay their quota into its treasury? (paragraph 17) â€Å"Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or shall we transgress them at once?† (paragraph 23) â€Å"†¦If the alternative is to keep all just men in prison, or give up war and slavery, the State will not hesitate which to choose. If a thousand men were not to pay their tax-bills this year, that would not be a violent and bloody measure, as it would be to pay them, and enable the State to commit violence and shed innocent blood.† 5. Using the questions below, divide the essay into functional parts (a part of text classified according to its function—for example, introduction, example, or counterargument). Label the parts and be prepared to support your answers. †¢ 1) the exordium: the web that draws listeners into the speech, the speaker would introduce the subject at hand and include material that would make the audience attentive and receptive to the argument. †¢ 2) the narration would offer background material on the case at hand †¢ 3) the partition would divide the case and make clear which part or parts the speaker was going to address, which parts the speaker would not take up and what order would be followed in the development †¢ 4) the confirmation would offer points to substantiate the argument and provide reasons, details, illustrations, and examples in support †¢ 5) the refutation would consider possible objections to the argument and try to counter these †¢ 6) the peroration would draw  together the entire argument and include material designed to compel the audience to think or act in a way related to the central argument a. Is there some section that clearly lets the reader know what subject the composition is about and what the writer’s purpose is? If so, where does this section begin and end? In this section, can you find an answer to the central question that the text has been written in response to, or can you find an indication of the text’s central argument? b. Is there a part that explains any background information that the reader needs to know in order to be able to understand the answer to the central question or argument that the composition offers? If so, where does this section begin and end? c. Is there some sentence or paragraph that focuses the reader’s attention on some particular issues, aspect, or theme that the paper examines as opposed to others that it could examine? d. Is there some section that purposefully sets out material in support of the paper’s answer to the central question of its argument? If so, where does this section begin and end? e. Is there a part that examines possible objections to the answer, argument, or supporting material? If so, where does this section begin and end? f. Is there a sentence or section where the writer specifically answers the â€Å"So what?† question? In other words, is there a section where the writer hints at what he or she hopes readers will think and do on the basis of what they have read in the text? 6. Using a functional part where Thoreau is supporting his argument, see how many of the following rhetorical methods you can identify. Cite the paragraph number and a few identifying phrases or sentences of specific text to identify the method: a. Relating anecdotes b. Describing scenes and evoking sensory images c. Defining terms and concepts d. Dividing the whole into parts e. Classifying the parts according to some principle or order f. Providing cause-and-effect reasoning 7. Select one specific paragraph that you believe represents the most interesting, most vivid passage in â€Å"Civil Disobedience.† Describe as much of the style of that passage as you can. For every stylistic feature you notice, explain what you see as its effect on 1) the appeal of the essay, 2) the credibility of Thoreau (ethos), or 3) the emotional or persuasive power of the piece (pathos). 8. Point out some ways you see Thoreau tapping into the â€Å"cultural memory† of his readers. (Cultural memory in modern rhetoric refers to the writer-reader connection. It has to do with how much knowledge, information, and data a writer has about his audience and their culture. A simple way of talking about this is to ask: what does a writer know about is readers and their lives, and how does he or she use it to further his writing purpose?). To what does the text refer or allude with the expectation that readers will know the reference or allusion? Are these references and allusions likely to appeal to and affect readers today in the same way they did when Thoreau used them?

Benzodiazepine as a pain medication in emergency settings

Emergency departments frequently come across a wide range of patient with multiple types of presentations. The most common feature among them is pain, which may be acute or chronic. Acute pain can be due to appendicitis, or a gun shot wound, or acute exacerbation of a chronic pain. Chronic pain is usually in the cases of rheumatic arthritis, or cancer patients. Regardless of the type of the pain, the medical personnel are always needed to decide which pain medication is needed for a particular patient.Understanding of individual drugs, their mode of action, their potency, and their possible interactions with the person’s condition or with other drugs is necessary to prevent any adverse consequences of prescribing. There are many pain killer drugs now available in the market. With the rapid progression in the pharmaceutical industry, there is a larger pool for the health care workers to prescribe from, and specification for all types of conditions. The UK government has since t hen put up many guidelines to help practitioners prescribe the right drug.Since many of the drugs are given based on the intensity of the pain described by the patient, the use of pain scales is one of the key instruments in the measurement of pain. The efficacy of these pain measurement scales have been brought into question from time to time. However, up till now, very few if any alternatives have been as useful as this one. Apart from the administration of the pain killer drugs, there are many legal aspects that need to be considered as well. Many patients, when given a certain kind of pain killer drugs, may develop tolerance and addiction to the drugs.Again, there may be patients who may be addicts, and present themselves deliberately to get their â€Å"dose† of the drugs. The recognition of patients who may be developing addiction, or are using hospital as a source of addiction is very important which may require certain corrective and legal measures. Therefore, the admi nistration of painkiller drugs also holds a certain amount of legal perspective as well. Apart from the use of such painkillers, there are many studies and researches that point to the role of various psychotropic drugs in the management of pain.While the association may seem sparse on the up front, patients with pain are frequently agitated and worried, and may require some â€Å"calming of the nerves†. In such patients the use of psychotropic and anti anxiety drugs is considered a good option. There are many researches that now support this theory, and claim that an emergency setting can respond better with appropriate use of these drugs. It is however important to take into consideration the type of pain for which the patient presents with.While acute pain patients may not have a large chance of developing a dependence on the drugs, it is the chronically ill patients that are of more concern. Patients of cancer and arthritis etc. are prescribed with chronic pain medication in accordance with the severity of the pain. Most of these patients are given prescriptions, which may not be maintained or fully monitored. While in the hospital admitted cases, the identification of addiction and dependence patterns can be easily diagnosed and dealt with, the same is not true for patients who are living in homes and receiving their medications their.To address this problem the government again introduced various measures to help control the dispensing of such drugs, and periodic evaluation of such patients at outpatient settings. The administration of pain killer drugs is a measure as well as responsibility of the health care provider. IS PAIN ADEQUATELY MANAGED? Pain is defined as â€Å"an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual and potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage† (Zempsky and Schenchter, 2003) Many physicians feel that pain in the emergency rooms is not treated very well.Studies have shown that pai n is the most common presenting complaint in the emergency department, yet is not so commonly handled or managed. (Sorelle, 2002) Researchers in studies have shown that many times the patients are given the pain medication very late or not at all. However, there are many factors that complicate the situation as simply patient comes, patient receives, and patient leaves. The time it may take for various preliminaries, the history taking and the final decision about whether the patient does need medication are among the various factors that can affect prompt medicine giving.The studies have pointed out the lack of information and lack of management of pain in the systematic manner. These studies therefore point out to the need of a good method of understanding and relieving pain. (Sorelle, 2002) Current pain management strategies recommended include the following: †¢ Introduction of low doses of drugs initially and gradually increase to reach the optimum effect for the patientâ⠂¬â„¢s pain relief. †¢ Combined drug therapy. This helps in reducing the doses of the drugs, and thereby prevents side effects of one drug†¢ Continuous analgesia, which is now being used widely in emergency settings. †¢ Use of behavioral methods along side pharmacological interventions to increase response. (Feinberg, 2004) OPIOID ANALGESICS IN THE MANGEMENT OF PAIN: Centrally acting opioids analgesics are used widely for the remedy of pain in the clinical settings. Tramadol is among the new line of opioids narcotic agents that are used for moderate to severe pain. It acts both as a weak opioids agonist and as an inhibitor of monoamine neurotransmitter reuptake.Both oral and parenteral forms have shown good results in the management of pain. (Scott and Perry, 2000) The advantage of this drug is that there is less dependence to this drug than other opioids. It does not affect the respiratory rate, and has lesser irritation effect on the GIT than other drugs. It also ha s a lesser risk of seizure than other drugs. (Feinberg, 2004) NSAIDS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PAIN: The second most common line of drugs used in this group of medication is the COX 2 inhibitor drugs.These drugs have shown at least similar efficacy in the management of pain when compared to COX non specific drugs. Parecoxib sodium for example, has similar effects to non specific nsaids in the injectable form. These drugs have shown a superior activity to morphine for most measures of analgesic efficacy, and have a prolonged duration of action. (Scott et al,2002) USE OF PAIN SCALES FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF PAIN SEVERITY Many researches are now questioning the value of the visual analog scales used widely to monitor the level of pain.Bodian et al, (2001) carried out a research to identify the relation between the changes of analgesic intravenous doses with the documentation on the VAS charts by the patients. The study also aimed to find out if watching previous VAS scores by the same patient h ad any influence on the later scoring of the pain. Bodian was able to conclude that â€Å"when pain is an outcome measure in research studies, grouping final VAS scores into a small number of categories provides greater clinical relevance for comparisons than using a full spectrum of measured values or changes in value.Seeing an earlier VAS form has no apparent influence on the later values. † (Bodian et al, 2001) PAIN MANAGEMNET IN CHILDREN: Pain management in children especially neonatal kids was not much debated until in the recent years. However, there are many recent methods that are used to alleviate pain in the recent pediatric settings. These include prevention of pain, where the pain is treated prophylactically. The identification and proper assessment of the pain is another crucial element in the pain management in children.The treatment of pain while initially considered to be limited to only providing analgesics, has recently evolved to include physical methods su ch as massages, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, and behavioral methods such as hypnosis, distraction, preparation and rehearsal. (Zempsky and Schechter, 2003) Current child pain management heavily relies on the information received from the parents, and uses them during the pain procedures as a source of comfort to the child.The introduction of painless analgesia technique is another method of inducing cooperation from the patient. And reduction of anxiety, a very important feature in a child is another very important area in the management of pain. (Zempsky and Schechter, 2003) Benzodiazepines are used very widely as sedatives in children with successful results. However, the only problem associated with it is the development of tolerance to it. In such children withdrawal symptoms cause severe distress and the child may express irritability, ataxia, aggression, hallucinations, and twitching.Other symptoms include inconsolable crying, agitation, vomiting, anxiety, hype ractivity, convulsions, tremors, jitterness, poor feeding gagging. The form used in children is midazolam, and is used for a variety of purposes. Their indications include sedation, amnesia, anticonvulsant, and anesthesia. (Bennett, 2001) If benzodiazepines are given to such children for more than 3 days, then these should be weaned off slowly. If the child exhibits withdrawal symptoms, then diazepam, a less intensive benzodiazepine can be given until the effect wears off.(Bennett, 2001) The pain scales used in children include the Oucher Scale, Faces Scale, Poker Chip Tool, Colored Analogue Scale, the Pain Thermometer, Visual Analogue Scale, and the McGill Pain Questionnaire respectively. The most common drugs used in pediatrics include opioids and NSAIDS. Included in the pain management techniques are behavioral approaches such as distraction etc. The current evaluation scales have improved considerably since the last two years, and have improved the outcomes of the pediatric pain management as well.(Zempsky and Schechter, 2003) THE USE OF ADJUVANT ANALGESICS IN THE MANAGEMENT OF PAIN. With increased understanding about the various modalities of pain, there are now novel and newer methods introduced in medicine to reduce pain in patients. The use of adjuvant drugs is used to enhance the efficacy of the analgesia and to improve the tolerance to pain. Drugs such as antidepressants, antihypertensives, local anesthetics, and CNS stimulants are widely used as adjuvants to control analgesia and to improve patients’ experience of pain.